Residents along a popular Blenheim school route are welcoming the replacement of a controversial cycle lane.
By Kira Carrington of Local Democracy Reporting
Marlborough District Council announced on Wednesday the cycle lane along Eltham Rd would no longer be separated from the road by kerbing and would be painted onto the road like most of the region’s cycle lanes.
Marlborough Roads system manager Wayne Oldfield said the concrete dividers would be removed and the road reinstated on the eastern side, next to Whitney St School and Blenheim Playcentre.
"We are also looking at returning roadside parking, with localised no parking lines around the school crossing and at Carr St, and improvements around the zebra crossing," Oldfield said.
Eltham Rd resident Georgie Rennick said the cycle lane was "annoying" and largely unused.
"I haven’t seen any bikes going down it," Rennick said.
The cycle lane made the road tight and narrow to navigate, Rennick said.
Whitney St School parent Blake Hurford said speeding was not uncommon down the street.
"[The cycle lane] narrowed the street, people go very fast down the street because ... you've got that that exit out of town towards Westwood up here," Hurford said.
"I think to widen it would probably be a good idea."
Hurford said the council should trial road adjustments before installing them, referencing the ill-fated Beaver Rd speedbump, at the time called the "crowning glory" in a "never-ending saga of mistakes".
"Everybody was flying down there damaging their cars, and then they highlighted it and then it was removed like a few months later," Hurford said.
Hurford also said he had not seen many people using the cycle lane.
"Bike thoroughfare is generally down Taylor River, and this is the only section of this part of the [route] where they’ve put this in."
Parent Shannon Livingston said finding a park near Whitney Street School during peak hours was "very difficult".
"If you’re not here by a certain time, you’ve got absolutely no show ... otherwise you’re walking from way down," Livingston said.
Multiple cars with waiting drivers could be seen outside the school from as early as 45 minutes before the 3pm pickup.
Livingston said the return of roadside parking would make the school run "massively" more convenient.
But not everyone was welcoming of the change. Eltham Rd resident Beverly Kingston said she used the cycle lane and found it a great help.
"You feel much safer with that concrete strip between you and the cars," Kingston said.
"What they really should do is put a bit more up Maxwell [Rd], so that they've got something to join on to.
"Every bike that's on there is a car that's not on the road."
Kingston said she hoped people would continue to use the on-road cycle lane.
Oldfield said the cycle lane was first created in 2017 to separate cars, cyclists and pedestrians on the busy street.
"The cycle lane was designed to make cycling to school safer for pupils attending the primary school and to provide a better cycling environment for students and the public between the Taylor River Shared Pathway and Eltham Rd, Maxwell and Beaver Rd.
Oldfield said that school students did cycle along Eltham Rd, but the cycle lane had mixed reviews.
"We have also received community concerns about the loss of some parking and property access since it was established, although the original aim was to retain as much parking as practicable," Oldfield said.
Oldfield said he encouraged people to cycle along the Taylor River Reserve pathway as it was "a great way to get off the busy streets".
Work would get under way as early as Easter, and would be funded within Marlborough Roads’ current budget.
Local Democracy Reporting is local-body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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